Tortoise Albums

Tortoise were the kings of both instrumental rock and progressive rock during the 1990s and some of the most interesting music ever was created. Formed by Bassist from Eleventh Dream Day Doug McCombs and percussionist John Herndon, drummer John McEntire and Bundy K Brown, the idea was to use mainly percussive instruments to make sounds as in percussion as the lead instrument over guitars. There is some guitar, some keyboards, and at other points lots of brass instruments and strings, but mainly Tortoise music is all about bass and drums and all the more interesting for it. Hardly ever are there vocals as a rule, and the songs change tempos and timbres like the best of the bands that influenced them from the heydays of Progressive rock music from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. The band is aptly named, as many of the ideas and music created takes a long time to grow on you.

Band Members:

John Herndon (drums, vibraphone, keyboards, sequencing), Douglas McCombs (bass, guitar, lap steel), John McEntire (drums, modular synthesizer, guitar, electric harpsichord, keyboards), Bundy K. Brown (bass, 1991-94), Dan Bitney (bass, guitar, percussion, vibraphone, marimba, keyboards, baritone saxophone, 1993-present), David Pajo (bass, guitar, 1995-98), Jeff Parker (guitar, bass, 1997-present)

Biggest Influences:

 King Crimson, Ozric Tentacles, Can, Soft Machine, Slint, Brian eno, Neu, Miles Davis, Blind Idiot God

1994

Tortoise - 85%

            The first album out of the gate was a unique stamp on the world of what would be known as ‘post-rock’, a genre filled with great emotional swells and usually instrumental music. IF the vocals are ever used it is not in a traditional sense. “Magnet Pulls through” is a good name for that tune, sounding like inanimate objects coming to life, but a better  was to describe this may be a new way for drums and bass to interact- one takes the verse and one takes the chorus. Each song sort of fades into each other, as the Slint talk-speaking dark vocals permeate the cold “Night Air”, leading into the emotional (for this group) guitars taking over on the seven-minute “Ry Cooder”, a song that sounds nothing like the man in sound but one could see how his eclectic spirit is influencing their work. This song twirls and turns in many directions, using alternate percussion in the for front as main instruments – xylophone’s chimes, different iterations of keyboards- while having a drum section as the main.

            Other highlights include the intricate bass intertwining of eight and a half minute “Spider webbed”, the softer inflections of the tempo changing “tin Cans and Twine”, and the The Who Sell Out quoting on closer “Cornpone Brunch” which opens up new avenues through the use of multiple drummers playing the same song all at once. The album sort of stops in its tracks on some songs, I don’t think any of those songs highlight what is best about the band, though all the playing is still very competent the musicality is scarce ( these songs would be “Second Story Island”, “Flyrod” and “Onions wrapped in Rubber”). “On Noble” is Doug McCombs best song, using a super melodic bass line to outline what could be a hit on pop radio If generic vocals were added, it is almost sweet as candy. If this sounds like a description of a jazz album, its really not, as melody and verses-choruses still inform many of the songs. But a mix of jazz, rock, and classical is really what the instrumental band Tortoise is all about.

Best Songs: spider webbed, magnet pulls through, on noble, tin cans ad twine

1996

Millions Now Living Will Never Die - 96%

       Tortoise took the template of their debut and expanded here, making the songs sound more contemporary but also outside of time. The twenty-one minute Opener “Djed” is the powerhouse of a song, starting off with a sort of thunder rumble by the bass and a light scratching noise and turning into a charming Neu meets Stereolab sort of drumming motor throbbing that is perfect for cruising along at super speeds. After about eight minutes, electric instruments break the beat down in half time before erupting into a jamboree of xylophones that sounds like an undersea nature documentary. That morphs again through phaser effects into a another return of chiming bell instruments with almost a dj-scratch sort of sound in the background. In all, “Djed” is not just a couple ideas but about ten different songs mashed into each other forming a basis for how to make a song that never ends, or at least a drum/percussion beat that never leaves but constantly mutates. There have been other 'songs turning into songs' like this before, but never quite like this one, and its a landmark recording and enough of a reason to buy this album alone.

       However, there are 5 more songs on the album and all of them are just about as intriguing. “The Taut and Tame” begins with some fast percussive snare but is soon joined by two overlapping basses that form a melody of their own, later the song turns into a charming sort of counter-point. “Dear Grandma and Grandpa” Is an ironic name for the most futuristic sounding tune, one that uses keyboards as a pulse while imploring electronic sounds to sound like undersea creatures and even a faint children vocal. “Glass Museum” is an epic rising and falling sort of song using Slint’s Dave Pajo's guitars to effect in odd time signatures to paint a beautiful sonic picture, before the song erupts like a volcanos worth of faster and more complex ideas finally looping back around to the beginning. Closing things out, “Along the Banks of Rivers” is a western themed rock song, boldly using brushed snares, angular guitars and solemn keyboards to drive forwards a slow motion melody that sounds like the end of a movie.

      “A Survey” is perhaps the only song that slightly dips in quality, but even it has a nice bass solo by Doug McCombs even though it is purposefully masked to sound far away. An epic opener and five interesting songs that follow, this album created a sound all its own and was a step forward quality wise for all of rock music. Rarely have such talented musicians also made music as compelling, existing outside of any trends at the time.

Best Songs: Djed, Glass Museum, Taut and the Tame

1998

TNT -  92%

Tortoise made their double record with their 3rd album, and it was their most ambitious and intricate to date. Melodic themes still ruled everywhere, as there is a memorable soothing guitar line in the opening title track “TNT” that never gets old, a sort of spy movie quality to “Swung from Gutters” but also incorporates some random sounds in the mix, “Ten Day interval” has a heavenly quality that only uses bells as percussion and the bass comes in with its own thoughts mimicked by piano. “The Equator” is my favorite song, making alien noise in the background of percussive electronic beats that sound otherworldly building to a memorable repeating breakdown.

Other highlights includes the progressive rock recalling the last album “The Suspension Bridge at Iguazu Falls” , the firefly sound effects of the out of control ending of “Almost Always is Nearly Enough”, the patient but world-expanding nature of “A Simple Way To Go Faster Than Light That Does Not Work”, the eight-half minute “Jetty” which might be another song from another planet, ending with the aliens (maybe us) landing on another world and making it their own, and the magnificent closer “Everglade” which calms everything down and smooths it out, the random effects now having an effect of familiarity. In all the best songs here shows us glimpses into their unique take on music in general.

Each song is carefully crafted, which takes away the part I never liked about jazz (pointless improvisation) and makes it into carefully crafted melodic lines. There is a painstaking quality to this music, and that is how they show their emotions- not by screaming them, but by showing us how they can merge all of these desperate sounds together. Is it perfect- well there are some minor flaws: “I set My Face to The Hillside” is a bit long for what it desires to be, another take on the Ennio Morricone western theme; “Four Day Interval” is the weakest track and a bit too one note (a slowed down version of “Ten Day Interval”), “In Sarah, Mencken, Christ, and Beethoven there Were Women and Men” could be about half as long and be just as effective. I’ve often wondered what a powerful record this would be if it was only 8 or 9 songs and the rest could have been left to an EP or something. As it stands though, the majority of the record serves as how to make intriguing instrumental rock music by creating sounds and repeating melodic themes, call it post-rock or jazz or modern classical or just plain genius, it is an awe-inspiring record.

Best Songs: The Equator, TNT, Everglade, Jetty, Swung From Gutters

2001

Standards - 67%

With the dawn of the new century, Tortoise find a new method to expand their sound by becoming even more insular and tricky. “Seneca” is a great opener, showing a harder hitting version of the band though one still obsessed with doing not what the listener expects (a lesson learned from King Crimson which this song reminds me of.). “Six Pack” could be sort of a leftover from TNT, a guitar line that surfs with the waves the percussion instruments make (marimbas seem to rule here). “Eden Two” is the hardest rocking the band has sounded, but being Tortoise it does not sound typical- its almost as if the groove is frozen in limbo- only problem it only lasts two minutes. Alternative and experimental percussion is what the band is all about, so many of the players being drummers of some kind – for example the repetitive off-beat snaps of “Monica” that mutates through its six and a half minute running time

Tortoise seem very distracted by detours, take a song like “Benway” builds up fine, becomes pretty interesting in the middle, then tangents again to go nowhere. Certain songs represent a kind of muted sound, so I can tell the band does it on purpose but it is almost abstract for abstraction sake and it falls flat on it’s face often (“Firefly”, “Eden One”). It is almost as if the band tries too hard not to follow any beaten path, up to the point of having songs that distract from the mere art of making a song (“Blackjack”). Before this album, Tortoise were an instrumental band that excelled at making their grooves accessible and challenging the listener. With this album, I feel like it neither challenges nor excels at much of anything.

Best Songs: Eden 2, Seneca, Six Pack

2004

It’s All around You – 55%

I’m not sure what happened with this album, but it doesn’t work all that well. “Lithium Stiffs” tries vocals or at least whispers form Kelly Hogan to create something a bit different and it does work pretty well, I felt calmed and relaxed vibe this one. There are a lot of minimal songs with bass as the lead instrument toward the end of the album like “Five Too Many” that make something truly different, so die hards don’t miss out on that one (and listen to it in headphones), “By the Dawn” and “On the Chin” are not as successful. “Salt the Skies” tries a noise rock guitar in the sound, and it actually makes for a powerful closing track! “Stretch” is Tortoise groove as per usual- great sounding and performed if not very innovative for a 5th album by a band. Honestly, that’s how I would describe the rest of the album too, not much to say on this one as they are simply treading water.

Best Songs: Stretch, Five Too Many, Salt the skies (should have been an EP)